Park Police Avoid Pushing Incident To a Violent End

The U.S. Park Police strategy for dealing with disgruntled tobacco farmer Dwight W. Watson can be summed up in a word: “Patience,” said Chief Teresa C. Chambers. Experts on police tactics said authorities made the right choice in dealing cautiously with Watson, who claimed to have explosives as he sat in a tractor that he had driven into a pond at Constitution Gardens. The best strategy, they said, was to keep a constant watch on him and wait him out. Former police commanders and other experts found fault with some police decisions — in particular, allowing Watson to sleep for a stretch Monday night or early Tuesday. But they said that by waiting and winning his trust, authorities were making a peaceful solution more likely. “They are handling it exactly the way they should. If you can wait him out, you certainly wait him out,” said Steve Jarvis, former commander of the SWAT team in San Bernardino, Calif., and now a consultant. “All you’ve got at this point in time is, in fact, time.” Full Story

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